Dear mama,
You don’t have to apologize for your messy house when we come over for a play date.
You don’t have to defend yourself for laundry being everywhere except for put away.
You don’t have to feel embarrassed because your kids are running around half naked.
You don’t have to apologize for not having vacuumed or that your kids had leftover pizza for breakfast.
I am not going to judge you.
My house is just as messy as yours.
I haven’t been able to finish a single load of laundry from start to finish all week.
I have dishes piled in the sink.
My kids run around naked all day.
Psst… we have leftovers for breakfast too.
I don’t have it all together either.
Guess what ?
That’s okay!
You don’t have to apologize to me or to anyone else.
Being a mom is hard! It’s probably the hardest job on the planet.
We are completely responsible for other little beings’ lives.
We don’t get holidays, sick days, or paid time off.
When our little ones are having a tantrum, it’s okay to cry right along side them. It doesn’t make you a bad mom.
There is no perfect mom out there, we are all in the same boat.
You are doing amazing. You are a wonderful mother. You are doing a great job.
Keeping our kiddos alive and out of trouble, fed, and feeling loved, that’s the most important part, everything else will get done.
It’s okay to cry on the bad days, to feel frustrated, to feel alone.
It’s okay if you yell at your kid because they didn’t listen to you for the thousandth time. We aren’t perfect mama.
Crayons on walls. Muddy feet on the couch. Still in your pajamas from two days ago?
An uneaten lunch with the food they begged you to make?
Giving up the battle to take a bath before bed?
It’s okay, try again tomorrow.
This is all just temporary.
Before we know it our kids will be grown and won’t be asking us to carry them all day long. They won’t need us to cut up their food into exactly the right sized bites. They won’t ask for us to wipe their butts or get them a toy that’s right in front of them even though our hands are full. They won’t need us to dry their tears or pick them up when they fall. They won’t need us to hold them when they are sick or scared.
They won’t need to hold our hands when walking into a classroom. Those tiny little hands. Those precious little hands that were so tiny in our bellies at one time.
We will no longer be their entire universe even though they will forever be ours.
We will no longer be their everything.
In our bellies, only we felt them kicking. Only we could feel them, talk to them. They were ours alone. And since leaving our bellies, they’ve only grown more and more, needing us less and less.
So mama, don’t be sorry. Don’t apologize. Don’t feel bad or embarrassed.
You are doing your best and if you stay in bed all day watching movies with your littles, I say that’s a perfect day.
Does any of this change the fact of the house is still a mess, that the laundry isn’t done, or that we are tired and sometimes we feel overwhelmed beyond reason?
Nope!
But I find it comforting to know that I’m not the only one. And knowing they will be grown up in a blink of an eye, I try my best not to let the little things bother me.
In fact, I ask you to join me in enjoying each moment even the hard ones, it will be gone before we know it. I ask you to laugh with me instead of getting mad, to get dirty with them instead of freaking out about the mess, to make a bunch of cookies, dancing while you bake, and not worry about the dishes.
And mamas, give each other an empathetic smile when you see another struggling or having a rough day, we’ve all been there.
Xo,
Elizabeth
Mindfully Living Mama 
